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Not to get all Julie Powell on you, but since seeing “Julie & Julia,” a couple of years ago (loved it!), I have been inspired to try some Julia Child recipes.

I am neither as obsessed nor as wacky as Julie Powell, the young woman who created a sensation by setting a goal of cooking all 536 recipes in Julia Child’s tome “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” She gave herself exactly a year to do it, and blogged about her progress. As happens these days, a book and a movie followed.

My family has been very happy to eat this repeatedly, as I tinkered with it to streamline and adapt it to today’s tools and tastes. For example, Julia Child didn’t have an immersion blender and favored a food mill, but I like the ease of sticking my immersion blender into the pot, so I recommend that. And I use a little less salt, I prefer easygoing onions over Julia’s fussier leeks, I add garlic and I add a bacon flourish at the end. (Everything potato is better with bacon.)

‘If You’re Afraid of Butter, Use Cream’

Julia Child famously said, “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.” She called for either/or in her original recipe, and I decided since I am afraid of neither, I would use both. Employing the pair makes a lush, suave soup that is not the least bit unctuous. (Go ahead; I’ll wait while you look up that useful word!)

Julia also advises that this makes a great soup base, and once you have it made, you may add any manner of leftover cooked vegetables that are calling your name from the fridge. Think string beans, cauliflower or broccoli for starters. Let your imagination loose on your own leftovers. Hmmm…I might throw in some grilled diced chicken or steak if I need it to be more substantial some time, or even some fresh chopped tomatoes from the garden in the summer.

But first, make it just like this. Close your eyes and slurp. Thank you, Julia, for the memories and the meals.

Is it cheeky for me to tweak a Julia Child recipe? I think she would approve.

Recipe: Potato and Onion Soup (Potage Parmentier)

Summary: A perfectly simple potato soup that will have you rolling your eyes back in your head with its pure flavor. Thank you for the inspiration, Julia Child!

Instructions

Place potatoes, onions, garlic, water and salt in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a low simmer, and cook, uncovered, for 50 minutes.

Remove pot from heat, and, using an immersion blender, purée the vegetables (and water) until smooth. Cut the butter into pieces and add it, stirring until it dissolves. Stir in cream.

Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt if needed (careful with salt if you are adding bacon as a garnish).

Ladle into soup bowls, top with a grinding of fresh black pepper, some chopped bacon and a shower of herbs (bacon and herbs optional but advised).

Makes about 7-8 cups. Serves 4-6.

Variation

Once you make it with Idaho russet potatoes, try it sometime with sweet potatoes, for a completely different take on this soup. All other ingredients remain the same; just sub 1 pound of sweet potatoes (garnet yams) for the pound of russets.

Source

Adapted from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961).

Julia says…

“Learn how to cook — try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”

The Sunday Supper Group has enjoyed creating Julia’s recipes in honor of her 100th birthday. Come join us live on Twitter today at 4 p.m. PST where we will chat about all things Julia (using hashtag #SundaySupper)! Also check out our #sundaysupper pinterest board for more recipes.

I just made the sweet potato version. It is delightful! I ended up making a huge batch and freezing some. It reheats beautifully. This will definitely be one of my freezer standby staples. Thanks for sharing!

I thoroughly endorse the idea of tweaking Julia’s recipes! Even when I first embraced French cooking as an avid fan of her original PBS program (inspired in my 20s to please my very French (former) husband, I called myself a “Julia minus the butter” cook. For the above recipe, I have to confess I really like leeks…a blind tasting would be fun!

Linda,
I agree! It would be great to make this both ways — once with onions, once with leeks, and see which way rules. I am a tad lazy…I don’t want to clean leeks, and I often have onions on the counter, but rarely leeks. So I make do!

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Thank you.

Hi from Dorothy Reinhold

Welcome to my kitchen, where the oven is always on, and the fridge is packed with delectables!

At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, scary good recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!

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